


An Education

by superpixie42



Series: The Aquarium Series [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Inspired by Fanart, Mostly Canon Compliant, Octopus, One Shot, Rated T for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24078163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superpixie42/pseuds/superpixie42
Summary: Inuyasha's been spending more time in the Modern Era trying to understand why Kagome's so obsessed with the whole school thing. A trip to the aquarium is eye opening for him in more ways than one. One-shot inspired by @kirrtash's artwork. Rated T for language. Part One of the Aquarium Series (canon-divergent, alt ending)
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Series: The Aquarium Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046206
Comments: 18
Kudos: 143





	An Education

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was entirely inspired by @kirrtash on Tumblr and Pixiv. Artwork used with permission. To view the full HQ version - https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/81405177

An Education

Inuyasha never understood the phrase "a love-hate relationship". Those were two completely opposite concepts. Emotions were complicated enough without people throwing together two completely different ones and claiming its one feeling. It was stupid and people who talked like that were even stupider. Then, the world turned on its head. He went to Kagome's era and suddenly, it all made sense. Or at least as much sense as using a dry well to literally jump 500 years into the future could make. Now, he had a love-hate relationship with that future. Because of course he would. Of course the universe would give him complicated emotions and feelings about time travel. 

What the fuck universe?

If this whole love-hate thing had to exist, couldn’t it atleast be balanced?

The number one thing he loved about the future was the food. Not only was it everywhere, but it was delicious when it wasn't spiced to the seven layers of hell. Unfortunately, the number one thing he hated was that despite referring to it as "Kagome's Era" there was always a frustrating lack of Kagome. Didn’t “going home” mean returning to a place where you spent a lot of time? Here, in the future, it apparently meant a place where your ridiculous collection of clothes lived while you fucked off someplace else.

Love-hate. He gets it now. 

Sitting in Kagome’s room when she was late coming home, again, it was definitely more the hate part of the feeling. 

He'd started spending the day at the modern Shrine while Kagome was at school. After one too many times of her deciding she'd need to add one or two extra days onto her stay because of an "unexpected assignment" Inuyasha'd made it a habit to be there everyday to keep up to date on her schedule. No other reason. This would all be so much easier if she stopped going to school. He'd learned to read as a kid, he didn't know why she was still doing reading assignments when she was practically an adult now. And what the actual fuck was the point of learning about imaginary numbers and countries she was never going to visit? He just didn't get it.

This time they had planned on four days for a biology assignment, which turned into five, and she'd been home more than an hour later than usual every day. Mama never seemed to worry and tried to distract him by sicking Sota on him for "bonding time". This apparently meant letting the kid gloat over winning at video games. But today he refused to be placated. It was the last day of her stay- they were heading back first thing in the morning - and she was two hours late now. He'd grabbed the hat Mama kept by the door for him and was already at the end of the block when he suddenly caught her sent. It did little to please him though since she was coming from the south even though her school was north of the Shrine. He made it to her in three leeps.

"Where have you been!?" the question was out of his mouth before his feet even hit the ground. 

Kagome startled at his sudden appearance, but simply rolled her eyes when she recognized him. She kept walking as she answered, "I'm sorry Inuyasha but I told you, I had a huge biology assignment to do. I was at the aquarium finishing up. But I'm done now so you can stop pouting." She made it a half a dozen steps up the road before turning back when he didn't follow her.

"What's an aquarium?" 

+++++++++++++

Inuyasha stood at the entrance to the aquarium and wondered, not for the first time that morning, how he'd been talked into this. Kagome's description of what to expect inside sounded absolutely ludicrous. He'd seen a lot of weird things in this era, but who would fill a house with live fish? When he agreed to go with Kagome that morning before returning to Kaede's village he hadn't realized just what he'd agreed to. "Just an hour" she said "it'll be fun" she said "it's a Saturday so if you wear modern clothes you'll blend in completely" she said. She didn't mention that would have to include shoes. She didn't mention that would mean leaving Tetseiga behind. She certainly didn't mention how crowded it would be. But he'd agreed and she absolutely wouldn't let him back out now. 

After paying their entrance fee Kagome made a beeline for what she claimed would be the quickest way to show him the best the aquarium had to offer. She took a sharp left as soon as they were inside and told him this "tunnel" exhibit would let him go underneath the largest tank in the whole building. Despite his initial claims to get in and out as quickly as possible, Inuyasha found himself constantly distracted. Sometimes it was because of the colors in a particular tank, but more than once it was because Kagome would start excitedly jabbering about something and he just couldn't bring himself to walk away and kill her excitement. It took nearly the full hour he’d agreed to just to make it to the tunnel.

Taking his first step into the exhibit, Inuyasha couldn't help himself but duck. The water was still over a foot above his head - wow that was a weird thing to consider - yet his ears pinned down under his hat and he leaned his shoulders a little closer to the floor. He trusted Kagome that it was safe. Still, he couldn't stop visualizing all that water crashing down and he figured getting hit in the head with a shark was a life experience he didn't mind missing out on. After a few hesitant steps he finally pulled his spine straight and looked up. It was incredible. He'd eaten a lot of fish in his life but he barely recognized anything around him. 

"Of course you think with your stomach," Kagome teased as they continued walking deeper into the exhibit. Inuyasha's eyes were glued upwards as he walked, lost in the surreal experience of being literally underwater totally dry. He could hear Kagome's excited voice beside him, telling him about the simulation ecosystem and the breeds of fish and plants. Honestly he wasn't following a word of it, but he wouldn't in a million years ask her to stop. Her enthusiasm was obvious from her quick, smooth cadence, and he loved hearing it; loved knowing he was sharing in her happiness. His attention was quickly pulled down from the ceiling as he felt her hand grab his. She pulled him to the far left side of the tunnel and started to jab her finger towards the floor of the tank. "Look look look it's an octopus" she was bouncing lightly on her toes as she continued to point, "they're my favorite!"

As Kagome began explaining how intelligent and unique an octopus was - three hearts, was she sure the thing was an animal and not a demon?- he found his free hand slowly moving towards the glass, wanting to touch the giant squishy looking creature. He stopped a few inches from the wall, the cold radiating from the clear barrier reminding him of how thin and breakable modern glass was. He remembered once early in their quest when he'd stormed out of Kagome's room after a tiff and slammed the window down for dramatic effect. It was dramatic alright; the window had shattered into a hundred pieces all over her carpet with a few large chunks turning into dust on the patio two floors down. Her grandfather had been furious. Not about the window, but at learning that a demon was sneaking into his granddaughter's bedroom. Mama had been surprisingly calm about the whole thing- both the shower of broken glass and Inuyasha's unconventional entrance to their home. Mama said that if she could trust him alone in the woods with her daughter for weeks on end surely it meant he was trustworthy enough to be in their home unchaperoned. He'd blushed for a week straight.

Returning to the moment at hand, he'd decided not to risk it and started to return his limb to the large pouch-like pocket at the front of the sweater Kagome had made him wear. Kagome caught the movement and stopped her runaway biology lecture to face him.

"You can touch it, Inuyasha. It's really really really thick. Probably don't punch it, but just touching it is fine, promise."

Eyes shifting between Kagome and the octopus, Inuyasha again brought his hand to the barrier. He had just gotten his palm down flat when a group of gigantic black and white striped fish zoomed just under his hand, making him noticeably jump and pull his hand back. He blushed a little as Kagome giggled, her laughter echoing through the tunnel.

"Would you like to go to the touch tank? It's an exhibit where you can touch some of the animals." She didn't even give him a chance to answer before she was pulling him along. He hadn't even realized she was still holding his hand.

She held his hand all the way through the tunnel. She held his hand while she got sidetracked and showed him the otters and then the penguins on the way to the touch tank. She even kept holding it as they sidestepped a huge family group, detouring into the South American Swamp section to look at the colorful array of poisonous frogs. When they finally did make it to the touch tank, Kagome stood so close their shoulders brushed together the whole time. As they examined the starfish and sea urchins - which she confirmed yes he had probably eaten - Inuyasha couldn't stop his mind from wandering. No wonder Kagome wanted to come home so often. They didn't have anything like this in his world. He thought her school stuff was just useless numbers and spending way too much time reading really boring books. But if school meant getting to study octopus hearts and visiting aquariums and cooking sea urchins then he really couldn't blame her for wanting to go as often as possible.

"Hey Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"How much school do you miss because of me? Eh," he tried to backpedal as smoothly as possible, "because of the quest?"

"A lot...why?" She took half a step back to meet his eyes, her brows drawn together in confusion.

He stepped away from the tank and started to walk over to the sink on the wall to wash his hands. He knew what he wanted to say but suddenly changed his mind. He wanted to say she should be able to go to school everyday if she wanted to. He wanted to say she should be able to enjoy being born in a time with nice things like aquariums and ramen. He also wanted her to come back with him. He especially wanted to be less of a selfish bastard. She joined him at the sink, her brows still too close together. He sighed.

"I just mean..." he abandoned his attempt to dry his hands with the little brown pieces of paper and wiped them down the front of his shirt, earning a head shake from Kagome, "I get it now, why you come home for your school stuff. If you want to come back more, I won't fight you on it."

Her brows pushed even closer together and Inuyasha began to worry the expression would become permanent.

"Who are you and what have you done to Inuyasha?"

"Very funny wench. But I mean it. If I got to do this all the time I wouldn't want to pound dirt everyday either."

Kagome dried her hands and moved directly in front of him, looking him square in the face. Without his ears to betray his emotions he hoped all she saw was indifference: she could come and go as she pleased and it wouldn't affect him.

"First of all," she began gently, "this is not an everyday thing. Most school days I sit at a desk for eight hours listening to my sensei talk. And second," she broke eye contact, her chin resting against her collar bone in a failed attempt to hide her blush. "And second, I go to school because I have to. I'm with you by choice." 

Inuyasha gently hooked his index finger under her chin, bringing her to look him in the face again. He could feel his own blush spread across his nose and down to his neck. He was bad at romantic declarations. Or he assumed he was, since this had never happened before and he didn't really have anything to compare it to. Still he knew he had to say something.

"If I were you, I'd probably choose the octopus."

Kagome's laugh came out as a sharp bark and she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Regaining her composure she took her hand away from her mouth and placed it on his shoulder. Using it to balance herself, she swiftly popped into her toes and kissed his cheek. "Yeah, well, he's not as cute as you are." 

Inuyasha felt like his brain had completely stopped functioning. His face was so hot he was sure the hat could catch fire at any moment. Kagome's giggle at what he could only assume was a really fucking stupid look on his face finally brought his brain back online. Emboldened by Kagome's easy intimacy Inuyasha reached his clawed hand up to his shoulder and claimed hers, bringing her slender fingers to his mouth so he could gently kiss her knuckles. It wasn't as brazen as her kiss had been, but her scarlet cheeks told him she enjoyed it all the same. 

Clearing her throat Kagome said, in a voice half an octave higher than usual, "We better get going. I still need to stop at the store to get Shippo his pokey." 

"And ramen?"

"And more ramen, any flavor you like."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I'm thinking shrimp."

They started walking towards the exit, their pace slow and leisurely. Neither was in too much of a rush to leave. Looking down at their intertwined fingers, Inuyasha vowed then and there to always offer to help Kagome with her school work in the future. If this is what studying an octopus could lead to, he couldn't wait to see what those history books had to offer. 


End file.
